Instapundit links to this Strategy Page story on state defense forces. They are a lot more common than you might think. While the National Guard is pretty clearly what our founding fathers would have considered a “select militia,” the various SDFs are the modern equivalent of what would be considered more traditional militias. Today most SDFs aren’d armed bodies, but serve as an emergency resource.

I’m pretty sure that Ben Franklin didn’t have no-knock raids and swat troopers with flashbangs and face masks in mind, nor would he have approved of the agressive and intimidating attitude nearly all the police officers I’ve ever dealt with have displayed toward myself and others who clearly pose no danger to anyone.